"How I met my honey!"

How could I have almost forgotten to post my honey story!?

My story isn't very exciting. Basically once Dale and I hooked up one weekend we've been together ever since and that was almost four years ago. Well I guess there is a little more detail than that I suppose so I'll share the short story. ;)

We met for the first time in March at a benefit dinner for a local girl who was killed in a car accident. He was the sound man for the band that played, though I tease him and call him a groupie. ;)

After being married for 14 years and recently divorced I was enjoying, probably a little too much, my new found freedom. After the club closed a group of us went back to my best friend's house to continue the party. Dh was there with a few of his friends and we talked some but I was sort of involved with someone else at the time and he got "offended" as Dale put it when he would talk to me. After that night I didn't see him again until October when the same band played at the bar again. We hung out for most of the night drinking, talking and flirting with one another. I was still in the same relationship (and I use that term loosely) as when Dale and I first met but it was going no where and I knew that, meeting Dale just forced me to move on sooner. That evening my life with Dale began. He came back to my friend's house with us and we danced and played cards and ended up spending the weekend together. I can remember feeling sad when Monday came thinking he was going to go back to his apartment in another town, back to his job and his life and I'd never see him again. Those things did happen but I saw him again, and again and again and it wasn't long before we decided that living apart wasn't what we wanted. Guess you could say we moved pretty fast but it's been truly wonderful.

4 years later we have two beautiful children, have completely remodeled the home I grew up in, are going on our first family vacation and have an absolutely amazing life!

Oh and before I sat down to write this I asked Dale to recall our first night together. He said I bought his drinks all night, got him drunk, took him home and held him captive all weekend. lol

And I'm in love with this man? Yep! :)



I haven't had a chance to read the other stories at this cool blog but once the kiddos are asleep I'm going to make my way through Mr. Linky!

Today I planned on blogging about how proud I am about the accomplishments Dale has made in his career and about how wonderful I think he is and after our conversation this morning I'm going to do just that. ;)

I will admit that I was a bit worried about Dale's work ethics in the beginning of our marriage. When we met he was working a half assed job under the table with one of his drinking buddies. When things became serious between us he got a job as a carpenter with a contractor in our town. After working there for a year he was let go. I was pregnant with Dev at the time and worried about how we were going to survive on just my rent check. Weeks went by with no luck and finally he got a job manufacturing log homes. He liked the job but after a year we realized there was no room for advancement and he knew he needed to look elsewhere for work.

My BIL had just retired from the Navy and at the time was working as a human resource manager at Lowe's. He encouraged Dale to apply for a job there, promising to put in a good word for him. Dale applied and was hired, but the position wasn't what we had hoped for. It was only a part time position working in the tools and hardware department but he decided that he'd work his way up once his foot was in the door. During this past year he has been promoted 4 times and is now a commercial sales specialist. In November he took a entry management training program so hopefully he will become a manager of one of the departments before the year is through. My lumberjack, as I used to call him, now gets up in the morning and puts on his khaki pants, his button down shirt and his dress shoes and heads off to work. On Tuesday night he attended our town's planning board meeting to introduce himself and pass out his business cards in hopes that the contractors will bring their business to Lowe's. I think it was then that I thought wow, he has really come far.

Today I realized again how wonderful my husband is. Life has been pretty crazy the last few months and despite all we are up against he still talks about having another baby. Though I wondered how Dale would adjust to being a parent, he has made me proud once again by proving that he is willing to work hard, not only at his job, but at learning his role as a father. I think I'm pretty fortunate that he is my husband.

Dale and Devin

Father and son. I love watching the two of them together, I could do it for hours. They adore each other and I can see their relationship blossoming as Devin has gotten older. Every night Dale turns on SpongeBob and Devin crawls up into bed with him, snuggles under the blankets and lays in his arms. It's the little things like that that makes my heart melt.


I took a few pictures of them tonight as they were watching the news. The last picture cracks me up, I told him to "beep" Daddy's nose. lol

An Ordinary Thursday

I sat down earlier today to make a list of appointments so Dale could bring it to work. His employer is being very understanding and has told him to take all the time off he needs to go with us to B's appointments. I am so thankful for that! Anyways, the point was that the list is a mile long! You wouldn't believe the crazy schedule we are going to have for the next few months and on top of that are so many birthdays and the holidays to think about, plan and shop for. I am going to be The Grinch this year I'm afraid. Money is tight and my spirits are low. I hope in the next few weeks I'll be feeling a bit more jolly, right now though it's just one more thing to worry about.

We met for the first time with Janet, her OT therapist yesterday. She did much of the same things with Brooklyn as her physical therapist. We have numerous exercises that we practice daily. Once she has gained some strength in her hips and is able to sit unassisted she will be working more with her fine motor skills. Since this was her first time interacting with B she voiced many of the same concerns; she doesn't use her right side to touch and play with toys, her eyes are wandering, her movements are uncontrolled and all over the place, she still has many primitive reflexes and sensory issues. I'm becoming more concerned about her eyes and her appointment with the opthamologist isn't until Jan. 2nd. Why is there always such a long wait?

I made an appointment for Devin to be evaluated for speech therapy today. It's not until Dec 5th but since he still isn't talking I guess it's something we need to look into. What's one more appointment right?